*1/2 Feeder

POLYTHENE

(Elektra)

Bush took it on the chin critically for being Nirvana clones from 'cross the Atlantic, but they worried their pretty faces not a bit as they found favor on American modern-rock radio. The newest UK regurgitators are Feeder, but this time Midwestern grunge -- Smashing Pumpkins, to be specific -- is the primary influence. Hey, could work. The CD's big (huge, in fact) production values and riff heaviness come replete with emotional, note-bending guitar solos, lush vocalizations, and forceful rhythmic dynamics. Sounds like a great album.

So what's the problem? After all, nothing's original in this post-postmodern world, and we can look forward to generations of familiarity, right? But familiarity breeds contempt, and Polythene -- with its almost total lack of recombinant possibilities -- is contemptible. Still, you can hum (skate, snowboard, whatever) along to it. Maybe, like Bush, Feeder will be licking their critical wounds all the way to the bank.

-- Mark Woodlie